Proverbs 23:7

for he is ¹  like someone calculating the cost ²  in his mind. ³  “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you;

for he is the kind of man who is always thinking about the cost. "Eat and drink," he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, "Eat and drink!" But his heart is not with you.

"Eat and drink," they say, but they don’t mean it. They are always thinking about how much it costs.

He'll be as stingy with you as he is with himself; he'll say, "Eat! Drink!" but won't mean a word of it.

For as the thoughts of his heart are, so is he: Take food and drink, he says to you; but his heart is not with you.

for like a hair in the throat, so are they. "Eat and drink!" they say to you; but they do not mean it.

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. "Eat and drink!" he says to you, But his heart is not with you.

for he is ¹  like someone calculating the cost ²  in his mind. ³  “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you;

¹ tc The line is difficult; it appears to mean that the miser is the kind of person who has calculated the cost of everything in his mind as he offers the food. The LXX has: “Eating and drinking with him is as if one should swallow a hair; do not introduce him to your company nor eat bread with him.” The Hebrew verb “to calculate” (שָׁעַר, sha’ar) with a change of vocalization and of sibilant would yield “hair” (שֵׂעָר, se’ar) – “like a hair in the throat [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh], so is he.” This would picture an irritating experience. The Instruction of Amenemope uses “blocking the throat” in a similar saying (chapt. 11, 14:7 [ANET 423]). The suggested change is plausible and is followed by NRSV; but the rare verb “to calculate” in the MT would be easier to defend on the basis of the canons of textual criticism because it is the more difficult reading.

² tn The phrase “the cost” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the verb; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

³ tn Heb “soul.”